Northeast hit by 25 earthquakes in March; Manipur recorded 9 tremors, Assam 4

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Of the total 53 earthquakes which occurred within Indian territory in the month of March, 2025, the North-East region experienced 25 earthquakes, including 9 in Manipur and 4 in Assam. Significantly, the epicentre of the destructive 7.5 magnitude Myanmar earthquake on March 28 was just 395 km southeast of Aizawl, Mizoram.

The information was provided in the Report on Real Time Earthquake Location released by the National Center for Seismology under the central Ministry of Earth Sciences for the month of March 2025.

According to the report, National Center for Seismology maintains a National Seismological Network of 166 stations each having state of art equipment and spreading all across the country. Using these stations during the period March 1 to 31, 2025, a total number of 174 earthquakes have been located and disseminated from the center, out of which 164 earthquakes has occurred in India and its neighbourhood region bounded by the coordinates 0°-40°N & 60° -100° E.

During the period, the majority of earthquakes within India and its neighbourhood region bounded by the coordinates 0°-40°N & 60° -100° E were located in Hindu Kush region, North India (Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand), North East India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim).

Few earthquakes of smaller magnitudes were also reported in northern (Sonipat and Faridabad in Haryana), central (Singraulli in Madhya Pradesh), western (Barmer in Rajasthan) and southern Kodagu in Karnataka) parts of country. Twenty earthquakes of smaller magnitude (M < 3) comprising 11% of all earthquakes occurred during March 1 to 31, 2025. Nine earthquakes of magnitude M:5.0 and above occurred during the month in the region.

Out of the total 174 earthquakes, 42% and 36% earthquakes occurred in the magnitude range 3.0-3.9 and 4.0-4.9 respectively; whereas eight earthquakes in the magnitude range 5.0-5.9 occurred during the period of which one was outside the grid of 0°-40°N & 60° -100° E. Eight earthquakes in the magnitude range 6.0-6.9 that occurred during the period were outside the grid of 0°-40°N & 60° -100° E. Three earthquakes in the magnitude range 7.0-7.9 occurred during the period of which one was outside the grid of 0°-40°N & 60° -100° E.

Regarding state-wise distribution of earthquakes during the period, it was stated that of the total 53 earthquakes that occurred within Indian territory, the highest number of 9 earthquakes occurred in Manipur, followed by 8 in Andaman Sea and 6 in Ladakh. Out of 53 earthquakes, 15 and 25 earthquakes occurred in North and North-East region respectively. Of the 25 earthquakes in the North East, Manipur recorded 9 earthquakes, Arunachal Pradesh 5, Assam 4, Sikkim and Meghalaya 3 each, while Mizoram witnessed 1 earthquake.

There was no activity in eastern part of the country and sparse activity reported in western, central and southern parts of the country.

Regarding the devastating Myanmar earthquake, the report said an earthquake of M:7.5 occurred at 11:50:52 IST on March 28, 2025, in Mandalay, Myanmar, at 21.93° N and 96.07° E, with a focal depth of 35 km. The epicentre was approximately 220 km north of Naypyidaw (capital of Myanmar), 395 km southeast of Aizawl, 430 km northwest of Chiang Mai (Thailand) and 1,010 km northwest of Bangkok (Thailand).

It should be mentioned that the 7.5 magnitude Myanmar quake was felt elsewhere, including in Thailand, southwest China and Northeast India. More than 3,500 people died, and more than 4,500 were injured, leaders of Myanmar's military government said. The strong quake buckled roads, damaged bridges and flattened many buildings in Myanmar, as well as an under-construction high-rise building in Bangkok, situated more than 1000 km away from the epicentre.

 Also Read: Assam: Earthquake with Magnitude of 2.9 Richter Scale Hits Nagaon

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